lucha TV preview for weekend of April 2nd

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Lucha Azteca 7, which will forever be confused with Lucha Azteca, debuts tomorrow. I’ve got matches up there, but who knows how that program works until it airs. For what it’s worth, I think I have a good chance of recording it – there are feeds out there if you want to deal with pop ups and spyware ads. Uploading may be the trickier part; I’ve got no idea if Azteca7 will try to take it down, so I may put on a separate account for a few weeks as to not get everything torched. I’ll try to make it easy to follow.

Lucha Azteca (US) should have Kamaitachi/Dragon Lee this week for sure.

Rey de Reyes begins airing on AAA this weekend. The crowd for recent SLP shows have been vocal, and I really have no feel about the quality of the last three matches, so I’m looking forward to whatever airs.

I think I may just stop listing MegaSports, because this list is gigantic, I can’t find any good listings for it (so I don’t know if it’s still on, and had one person tell me it might not be) and I don’t know any one who watches it and might find it useful.

Lucha Underground’s episode preview gives away the main event for this week, which is either an advisory or a warning depending on how you feel about that.

Lashley defeats Rush in start of Elite tournament, CMLL incredble pairs tournament announced

photo by +LuchaTV
photo by +LuchaTV

CMLL Elite (WED) 03/30/2016 Arena México [CMLL, Kronosport, Notimex]
1) Dalys & Muñeca De Plata b Estrellita & Marcela
2) Emperador Azteca, Metaleón, Zumbi b Fujin, Heddi Karaoui, Raijin
Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Golden Magic & Rocky Lobo b Puma & Tiger
Tecnicos took 1/3, though the crowd cheered Puma & Tiger.
4) Máscara Dorada b Extreme Tiger [Liga Elite]
Mistico, Carístico, Rush, La Máscara, Volador, Mascara Dorada, Atlantis, Ultimo Guerrero, Bobby Lashley, Xtreme Tiger were presented as part of Liga Elite. (Juventud Guerrera and Cibernetico are also in the competition, but were elsewhere.) Dorada got the first win of the tournament, beating Tiger for 3 points.
5) La Máscara, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. b Atlantis, Carístico, Mistico
Volador inexplicably remains a rudo in Elite. Rudos took 1/3, Mascara sneaking in a foul on Caristico. Mascara unmasked Caristico and Volador unmasked Atlantis after the match, but it was Volador who challenged Caristico to a hair vs mask match. Caristico said he had no problem with doing it.
6) Lashley b Rush [Liga Elite]
Lashley won with a spear, is 1-0 (3), Rush is 0-1 (0)

This was the first Azteca7 taping, which will air tomorrow. They closed off the streets around the arena and had a red carpet entrance to make it come off as a big deal. There was also a press conference just before the show, with Daniel Padilla, Francisco González, Gerardo Melin and Shocker were introduced as announcers for the TV show. CMLL did live results for the show, but doesn’t seem to be putting up full results on their website.

The tournament format was as a 12 person round robin (everyone faces everyone once), with two singles matches a week. That means 33 weeks, and the tournament ending in November if they don’t skip weeks. It’s broadly the same idea as a soccer league, with 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The top 3 will win awards, the first person will get the Elite heavyweight championship, and the final four will face off where the loser loses their hair or mask. I might be missing something; they handed out a sheet with rules of the tournament, but don’t seem to have posted it anywhere. Maybe Friday.

These is broadly the same setup they had for the previous iteration of this tournament, which fell apart in after about five shows. It’s hard to believe it’ll keep it together for 33 weeks, because no one in Mexico has managed to keep something like that together for that long of a time, and they’ve specifically failed at doing it at the past. There’s inveitable going to be logistical problems – Juvi going to Europe (that’s why he missed this show), Lashley busy with TNA & MMA, Dorada inevitably back to Japan, and whatever else. Scheduling Atlantis for eleven singles matches in the next seven months on top of whatever he does for CMLL doesn’t seem like a great idea. It also doesn’t seem to be a great idea to give away giant matches – like Volador versus Caristico, Caristico versus Misticio, Rush versus Mistico, and Cibernetico versus Rush – on random Wednesdays, though CMLL has certainly been willing to give those matches away other ways. It’s going to be interesting how people react when (if) the standings start to take shape and some people are in the last few places; CMLL booking is about keeping all their top guys around the same level, and that’s harder to do in this format. And it’s hard to figure who in this field would actually be willing to be at the bottom of the table and lose their hair or mask. Maybe Juvy? I don’t think Lashley is going to finish last, but a bald unmasked match being in a tournament where the loser loses his hair or mask is the clearest sign they haven’t really thought about this much. (Also a sign of poor planning: the introduction of this show was Zumbi saying he was in this tournament, and he’s not in the tournament.)

Maybe the clearest sign of this may have to change is the turnout for the show, which appeared to be less than the completely normal (though holiday weekend) Sunday show. Maybe 3,000 or 4,000 for the start of a new taping, and they’ll have to shoot it carefully for it to look good. It did not seem like the show was promoted very strongly in the days leading up the show, and perhaps it’ll do better once the show is on the air, and maybe it doesn’t even matter because Elite seems to keep running shows in Arena Mexico despite attendance issues, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve sold the public on this concept. I could tell from Twitter that people who follow lucha libre in Mexico are excited for this concept – and if they really do the matches they say they’re going to do, it’s going to be exciting – but they haven’t done much to convince the casual fan to care as of yet. Hopefully the TV show helps with that.

None of the mystery people rumored to be on the show were there. It’s possible people weren’t as close to coming as it seemed, and it’s possible the situations with Cage, Sexy Star and Hijo del Fantasma (confirmed by the WON as the person trying to get out of their AAA/LU contract to go to WWE and being in limbo until it gets resolved) convinced others to stay put for the time being.

Informa is this afternoon on CMLL.com. It seems like it’s a one time move because of all the extra stuff (red carpet, pre show press conference) and they’ll be just taking place right before the Elite show going forward.

 

Azteca’s Venga La Alegria has a video story on CMLL as a promotion for the new TV show.

+LuchaTV has interviews from the show with Rush and Bobby Lashley (who says he’s back on next week’s show.)

CMLL held a short press conference earlier in the day, with only two items. It seemed like they focused on a new exhibition of Lucha Libre photography there’s video of that here. The photos will be shown in Plazas Galerias Metepec starting on April 4th for the rest of the month, and then be in other Plazas Galeries in September. They talked to the different photographers, with Alexis Salazar saying he’s been taking photos since he was 12, and Gonzalo Lopez talking about the time Shocker landed on him and Lopez was hurt and a month and a half.

They also announced the (dreaded) incredible pairs tournament would be coming back in April. Copy and pasting the teams from LuchaWorld and MasLucha so I don’t have to put in the accents:

Block A (April 15th):
Místico & Mephisto
Ángel de Oro & Pólvora
Ephesto & Blue Panther
Volador Jr. & Negro Casas
Euforia & Dragon Rojo Jr.
Súper Crazy & Felino
Rush & Marco Corleone
Máscara Dorada & Bobby Z

Block B (April 22nd):
The Panther & Tiger
Terrible & Máximo
Titan & Vangelis
Carístico & Cibernético
La Máscara & Dragón Lee
Brazo de Plata & Kráneo
Atlantis & Gran Guerrero
Thunder & Último Guerrero

The finals are on April 29th, which will be the Arena Mexico 60th Anniversary show. (There will also be a separate Kid’s Day special Saturday show the following day.) The big news is Thunder is listed as being back. Ther ewas some hope the mystery surgery Thunder had was a way of writing him out for good. Even as recently as last Wednesday on Informa, JCR and UG acted as if they were unsure when he’d be coming back. Here he is, and his team is one of the favorites. Caristico & Cibernetico stick out as the other big favorite in that group. Mistico & Mephisto and Volador Jr. & Negro Casas are the big two in the first group. (Rush & Marco would seem to have a chance except, as we saw Tuesday, there’s no way Rush can keep it together thru a whole tournament.)

Adictos Al Deportes points out developments in the Irma Osorno/AAA situation. On the anniversary of Irma’s death, Konnan took to Twitter to accuse the promotion of not treating her family right and said more would come out soon. Irma’s son – who turns out to be former Kumbia Kid Pee Wee – posted a video talking about his issues with the company not supporting her family after she died in a bus accident. The website also points to a Facebook post by Irma’s daughter, who’s quit her job in AAA, saying she felt she had no other option (due to the issues between her family and AAA.)

Today is WaleMania II, which will include a podcast with various MLW Radio guests. It includes a Q&A section with the fans, so there’s a decent chance someone will get to ask Konnan what’s exactly is going on with him and AAA. It’s possible he’ll avoid an answer, as they’ve been generally doing with the podcasts, but there’s always a chance Konnan might just unleash tonight.

Blue Demon Jr. did an interview to say he might do an interview later on to talk about AAA.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

RobViper has music videos 12/06/08 CMLL and 09/11/15 CMLL.

The Carnage Culture Podcast writes about the greatness of Abismo Negro.

Eric writes about the top 10 mask matches of all time.

The Wrap has an article on Lucha Underground.

Jun Akiyama will be part of this year’s DragonMania show.

Lineup

IWRG (SUN) 04/03/2016 Arena Naucalpan
1) Black Dragón & Dragón Fly vs Matrix Jr. & Ram El Carnero
2) Leo, Mike, Rafy vs Factor, Rayan, Spector
3) Apolo Estrada Jr., Canis Lupus, Eterno vs Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro, Picudo Jr.
4) Danny Casas, Diablo Jr., Veneno vs Golden Magic, Negro Navarro, Trauma II
5) Trauma II vs Máscara Año 2000 Jr.
6) El Hijo del Diablo vs Cerebro Negro [hair]

I have no idea who’s meant to be a tecnico or rudo on this show. Trauma II is actually listed in two matches. Main event could go either way.

Lucha Underground 2×10: El Jefe Is Back

Butterfly Effect
Butterfly Effect

Matches

Mr. Cisco & Cortez Castro b Johnny Mundo & Taya [4:39, Psycho Realm on Taya, OK]

Angelico, Son of Havoc, Ivelisse vs Barrio Negro, Trece, Siniestro de la Muerte to retain the Lucha Underground Trios championship [good, first defense]
Siniestro de la Muerte pinned Ivelisse (2:37)
Angelico Fall of Angels on Trece (4:45)
Siniestro de la Muerte beat Angelico (6:33, double knee smash to the back)
Son of Havoc beat Barrio Negro (7:53, standing shooting star press)
Son of Havoc beat Siniestro de la Muerte (9:26, moonsault)

Mariposa beat Sexy Star (1:24, Butterfly Effect, OK but no really long enough to be rated)

Matanza defeats Pentagon Jr. to retain the Lucha Underground Championship (3:58, Wrath of the Gods, OK) – first defense

Developments

cheap shot kicks to Vampiro are tough not to GIF
cheap shot kicks to Vampiro are tough not to GIF

Make it ten in a row for Matanza. He didn’t beat Pentagon as quickly as he beat his opponents at the end of the Azteca Warfare tonight, but he wasn’t in really any more trouble even when Pentago knew he was coming. Pentagon got in shots on Mantanza, but even his backcracker couldn’t take the monster off his feet. Pentagon ‘earned’ the title match by attacking Dario and threatening to break his arm. Matanza broke Pentagon in response; Pentagon had a back injury late in the match, took the big powerslam, and then got powerbombed thru the announce table after the match. The show ended with Pentagon being taken away in ambulance with Vampiro (who attacked checking on Pentagon) glaring back out thru the ambulance window.

Dario was busy taking care of existing issues this episode. He transitioned back into power, and back into having his office in it’s usual look, rather quick. The interim tenant, Catrina, didn’t object to her candles being removed, but was very upset Mil got taken out before even getting into Aztec Warfare and demanded a title shot. Dario brushed off Catrian’s ghost behavior and pushed for a truce, noting he was giving the Disciples a trios title rematch, but Catrina declared Matanza would have the title back and she’d have the Temple too. Dario didn’t seem worried.

Psycho Effect
Psycho Realm

Dario also had to deal with an angry Rey Mysterio, who wanted to talk about Dragon Azteca. Dario first tried to avoid the topic by talking about Azteca Jr., but Rey wanted answers about Dragon Azteca Senior. Rey accused Matanza of killing his old mentor, and Dario swore his brother didn’t murder Azteca. (Dario is telling the truth – it was Black Lotus, back around as a bodyguard, who killed Azteca.) Dario tried making a deal with Rey, which went much smoother than Catrina: Rey and Azteca were welcome back into the Temple, as long as they left the past in the past. Rey clearly didn’t trust Dario, but seemed to take this deal for the moment.

The trios rematch didn’t go too much better for the Disciples. They did manage to get a 2 on 1 advantage in the elimination match (and no reason seemed to be given for it being an elimination match.) Catrina helped out, distracting Ivelisse into a kick, and trying to cost Son of Havoc the pin at the end. Ivelisse stopped Catrina that time, and the champs kept the belts. The formerly dysfunctional trio seem completely on the same page, and the Disciples should be well out of the title picture now. New challengers are coming; Dario announced a trios tournament for #1 contenders starting next week.

Mariposa made her in-ring debut. Prior, Marty told a story of the Moths always being the richest tribe of the Aztecs, of the others being jealous of them, and of the role of Mariposa being passed down from generation to generation to the current strongest one. It’s Marty, and he was reading this from a book which had no words, so it could be all in his head or completely true. At any rate, Mariposa completely squashed Sexy Star, and the moth siblings took out Willie Mack after the match too.

The opener was the odd tag match of the Crew versus Mundo & Taya. Johnny seemed to be taking advantage of Taya’s enthusiasm to fight, and carefully only tagged himself in when he thought he team had the advantage. They were really at a disadvantage when Cage came down to watch. Mundo bailed, and Taya took the pin.

Thoughts

no fancy name for the springboard knee yet
no fancy name for the springboard knee yet

Anything was going to be a bit of a comedown from the last few weeks, and this one was a little bit of a resetting of the status quo. Dario got his office reset, cleared out the last vestiges of the Catrina era and set the template to come.

It’s going to be an adjustment going from the back and forth matches of the Puma championship run and even the competitive matches of Mil Muertes short run to utterly one sided Matanza matches. It’s easy to understand what they’re doing from a logical standpoint – it’s going to be a while before anyone can even really budge the monster – but it does take one of the more fun aspects of the show away for the moment. They did promise a much darker place, and a place without two count falls in the title match is a bit dark.

This Disciples trios title match is the best of the three they’ve had, even with the quick eliminations canceling people out. It’s probably too late in the game to matter, but the Disciples actually looked impressive at times and they eliminations made it easier to get a sense of them as different characters. You could at least tell which one was which when they all aren’t around (and when Striker can name them again.) It would’ve been a more memorable match with a bit more time, but the last run by Son of Havoc was really good.

The Mariposa/Sexy Star match felt very edited, like they took out minutes of the match in a big chunk at one point. It was also another one sided squash on this show. Mariposa’s finish looked brutal. I really liked the Marty vignette.

It's 200 points for the first stomp, 400 for the second, but no idea what you get for the shooting star press
It’s 200 points for the first stomp, 400 for the second, but no idea what you get for the moonsault

The opening tag match was ill-fitting. There was no real team to root for or a reason to care about the match, and it didn’t really move along any story – Cage hates Mundo, Mundo is scared of Cage, Mundo is kind of a jerk to Taya but Taya doesn’t care or hasn’t caught on. It wasn’t long and it wasn’t bad, but it was something I was easily distracted from and felt like time that could’ve been better spent on the trios match.

There was a lot of stuff that got done that needed to get done – they had to explain the status of Rey and Catrina, they gave Mariposa a real introduction, and they started things for the future with the trios tournament announcement. The show served it’s purpose, but it doesn’t seem like one people will be looking back at strongly.

Miercoles Elite begins, Esfinge & Volador advance in Gran Alternativa, LU/Hulu, Demon/AAA

Rush don't care
Rush is the best

CMLL (TUE) 03/29/2016 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Astral & Shockercito b Mercurio & Pierrothito LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
14:38. Tecnicos took 1/3. Astral replaced Stukita.
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Magnus, Súper Halcón Jr. vs Canelo Casas, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Magnus replaced Delta on Monday. 11:27. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Atlantis, Mistico, Valiente b Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
about 8:07. Tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Golden Magic & Warrior Steel b Raijin, Esfinge, Yago, Stigma, Sansón, Pegasso [Gran Alternativa, seeding battle royal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3:47
5) Máscara Dorada & Pegasso b Sansón & Terrible [Gran Alternativa, eightfinal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5:03. Pegasso actually won!
6) Mephisto & Yago b Pierroth & Raijin [Gran Alternativa, eightfinal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4:33. Pierroth was still a Boricua.
7) Esfinge & Volador Jr. b La Máscara & Stigma [Gran Alternativa, eightfinal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
7:29.
8) Golden Magic & Rush b Mr. Niebla & Warrior Steel [Gran Alternativa, eightfinal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4:59.
9) Máscara Dorada & Pegasso b Mephisto & Yago [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3:08.
10) Esfinge & Volador Jr. b Golden Magic & Rush [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5:59
11) Esfinge & Volador Jr. b Mephisto & Yago [Gran Alternativa, semifinal] LUCHA LIBRE MARTES DE NUEVOS VALORES EN LA ARENA MEXICO 29 DE MARZO DEL 2016 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
9:05. Esfinge & Volador Jr. advanced to face Fujin & Rey Escorpion next week.

Tournament is worth watching. Golden Magic was treated like a normal CMLL luchador and may be one. Yago has promise; it’s too bad Rebelde isn’t around to form a team of opening match Infierno-citos. Warrior Steel is an enormous man who provide good GIFs in the years to come.

There seems to be ample evidence Esfinge is not all that interesting, but I suppose he gets another chance to change perceptions on Tuesday. Just being in the final against Fujin suggests Esfinge is in line for a FantasticaMania appearance; they’re likely to keep fighting for a few more wins.

Pegasso actually won! (His 450 is still not very good.) Rush dismissively unmasking Esfinge should go in the highlight reel of great Rush moments.

Tonight is yet another CMLL affiliated show, though not one that’s streamed. It’s the debut of the Wednesday Elite shows, which will be taped for Azteca7 in Mexico. There’s been local promotion and a little bit of ticket giveaways for this show – they’d like a really big crowd for TV even more than for the gate.

The main event of the show is Bobby Lashley versus Rush. Lashley has previous appeared on an AAA TripleMania to no great recognition, and is a replacement for Brian Cage who hasn’t been promoted much outside of the poster and a short video. Rush was entertaining with Warrior Steel last night, so I think he and Lashley will be able to work something out. The match is listed as part of the Liga Elite tournament for the Elite heavyweight championship, but the tournament hasn’t been explained so I’m not sure exactly what it means

Extreme Tiger versus Mascara Dorada is also part of Liga Elite, and a rematch from just a few weeks ago in Lucha Memes. (Tiger won that one.) Cibernetico, Zumbi, Caristico, Volador, Mistico, Maximo and Marco Corleone have been listed in the 12 man field in promotional material. That’s 1 short of 12 person field, assuming they don’t make any other changes. I’d expect a lot of changes, just because it’s Elite, that’s what happened last time they tried this, and this seems even looser organized than that. The card also has Atlantis & Caristico versus Ultimo Guerrero & La Mascara, Golden Magic & Rocky Lobo vs Tiger & Puma in what sounds like a really good match, Zumbi, Emperador Azteca, Metaleon versus Fujin, Raijin and Heddi Karoui and a women’s match. That sounds like enough material for a couple of TV shows, and the advertisements for CMLL Informa have suggested they’re moving back on Wednesday next week. (Then again, every time Arena Coliseo moves, it’s also listed as a one time ever only thing.)

I’m still stuck on Elite not having a press conference to promote this show. They’ve had press conferences to promote the Morenos, Jinzo and Rocky Lobo. All wonderful individuals, but the bar seems low enough there that you’d promote Lashley showing up, or the new TV deal, or explain what the deal is with the heavyweight title. It really just could be usual lucha libre promotional randomness, but with the persistent talk of outside wrestlers jumping to Elite – none so specific and firm enough to report, but consistent enough that I’d be a little surprised if there wasn’t a surprise – I keep maybe there’s a big reason they’re waiting for that big roll out press conference.

Lucha Underground tonight has episode 10 of season 2, “El Jefe is Back”. Matches announced

  • Angelico, Ivelisse, Son of Havoc (c) vs the Disciples of Death for the Lucha Underground Trios championship
  • Mariposa vs Sexy Star

There’s a title match set up by a speaking segment early. Part of that segment is already online. There’s one more match which hasn’t been announced yet, and one of those matches has a stipulation not yet announced.

Lots of people seemed to think the Disciples were killed by Mil, but they are indeed as alive (if they’re meant to be alive ever.) You only seem to die in Lucha Underground if Matanza rips you apart, or if you’re stuffed in the casket. I would only believe someone is gone from Lucha Underground if one of those things happen.

WrestlingInc reports Lucha Underground is close to a deal with Hulu which would cover Season 1 and 2, with an option for season 3. Lucha Underground had previously been said to a deal for a digital platform beside Netflix, and Hulu’s the best alternative. The article says the deal isn’t done.

WrestlingBuds had an interview with Lucha Underground’s Eric Van Wagenen about Lucha Underground. It starts around the 1:11:00 mark. Van Wagenen has had a busy 2016: he started working on the Apprentice the day after Ultima Lucha II, and started back on Lucha Underground the day after Apprentice wrapped. (He says he’s had one Saturday off in 2016.) Van Wagenen explained the quick turnaround as part of a philosophy of putting as much of the money on the screen as possible – by not having to tear everything down and put it back up, that money could instead be used for more episodes in Season 3. Both the host and Van Wagenen mention the show is getting close to reaching the 100 episodes mark, faster than they thought. That’d mean Season 3 would be 33 hours long, or we’ve all just got confused counting.

They talked about Austin Warfare a bit, with Van Wagenen saying they had 1000 happy people and one person who failed to move when Mil Muertes yelled “Move!” There’s no plans to air it, but clips might show up in social media. He notes an overall belief in leaning towards being cool over clarity at times, specifically citing Vampiro’s mysterious covered car in the desert. He mentions Robert Rodriguez has had some influence on the look of the vignettes. And they talk about how spoilers for Season 3 might not be as big of an issue because they’re taping so much out of order; Van Wagenen says he has all the scripts, but even he’s not always sure which match goes with which they’re taping things.

Eric Mutter guesses at who might fight Matanza at Ultima Lucha II.

Fenix versus Pentagon Jr. was announced for the 04/20 Royal Road debut show, the AAA/LU match they had earlier teased. It’s the obvious match to pick because it’ll be very good, but Fenix’s nose injury might mean he’s still unable to fly by that point. (Fenix definitely would want to go whatever his condition, but you can’t get on a plane with a recently fixed nose.) I’d think AAA would have communicated this to Royal Royal already if this was actually off, so maybe I’m worrying for no good reason, but there’s a chance it gets changed.

R de Rudo says a source told them Blue Demon Jr. missed Rey de Reyes due to AAA having a problem arranging his travel. The post goes onto to say Demon’s unhappy with AAA and would go to Elite if they made an offer. Don’t do it Elite! AAA having problems flying people to their shows seems like a serious issue but I’m ok with it in this case and I’m skeptical about this story; it feels too much like Demon realizing he’s not in the mix in AAA and pitching himself for a new spot.

LuchaWorld has the top 10 for a weekend. I think it’s going to be tough move Matanza from the #1 position.

DoradaFan has highlights of Gran Alternativa Block A.

Segunda Caida reviews Blue Panther, La Máscara, La Sombra vs Atlantis, Dragón Rojo Jr., Último Guerrero

Samurai TV will air Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on April 12, at 10 pm.

A video interview with Flyer.

Dark Fire & Payaso Infernal are happy with their recent trip to Arena Coliseo Guadalajara.

Lineups

CMLL (TUE) 04/05/2016 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2016 (Lutteroth & Asesino Negro)
1) Gallo, Magnum, Príncipe Daniel vs Artillero, Maléfico, Ráfaga
2) Fuego, Stigma, Tritón vs Sangre Azteca, Skándalo, Virus
3) Vaquero Jr. vs Espectrúm [hair]
4) Atlantis, Titán, Valiente vs Kráneo, Olímpico, Ripper
5) Carístico & Mistico vs Cibernético & Último Guerrero

Full lineup, mostly just with the hair match. Principe Daniel seems to be treated like a DF guy on this show, since he’s opposite of Artillero.

AAA in English now on the Fight Network?

Fight Network

A page on Fight Network’s website lists AAA: Lucha Libre Worldwide. I’m not sure that schedule is correct: if it aired Tuesday night, it aired so quietly that no seems to have mentioned it on Twitter. Let me know if you see it today and what it’s like.

An AAA show in English has been in the works for the promotion since last Fall, with MLW Radio’s Court Bauer leading the project and occasionally teasing it coming on social media. The original plan was to bring the show to the US, as a way to open the door to AAA lives shows in the US and another attempt at PPVs. That plan is said to have changed. Lucha Underground would hold exclusive US TV rights to any AAA luchador who’s appeared on the show, the same as they would for any other wrestler on the show, and either LU would have to give up those rights or the AAA episodes would have to be edited to remove all the LU luchadors. The second option is impossible and there’s been no word on progress on the first option. Instead, the AAA in English shows are being marketed to other English speaking companies, and Canada’s Fight Network seems a logical place to start. AAA, Fight Network, Court Bauer, and everyone else has said nothing about a deal so far – Bauer and Fight Network John Pollock were on a podcast together this afternoon and didn’t even hint at something like this coming – so it might just be some listings getting ahead of an announcement. I guess we find out later today.

The show is listed as 90 minutes, which is essentially the length of the regular version of the AAA TV show. (The YouTube version runs longer, but also usually has a repeat match to fill out the time.) We’d expect these to be episode from this year, starting either with Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera or Cuautitlán, and following in order of the Mexico episodes. (Which makes listing Rey Jr. as one of the stars odd, or optimistic.) There has been talk of making this show like the NJPW on AXS show, which could mean added interviews to provide context. Ray Flores and Hugo Savinovich were billed to be the announcers.

 

CMLL Arena Mexico 2016-03-29 

Yago & Mephisto
Yago & Mephisto

Recapped: 2016-03-29, all matches from Arena México of the same day

What You Need To Know

  • Esfinge & Volador won a fun Gran Alternativa block, and will face Raijin and Rey Escorpion in the tournament final next week. There’s no match you need to watch and it may lose it a bit knowing the outcomes, but it was a fun Tuesday night viewing and better than last week.
  • Mephisto pinned Volador once more before their title match on Sunday.
  • Yago & Golden Magic looked good in their first streaming appearance, and Warrior Steel is at least interesting.
  • All the Boricuas are acting as if the storyline where Pierroth quit the group and said Misterioso & Sagrado weren’t any good never happened.

Match Results for Result Databases

Shockercito & Astral (replacing Stukita) defeated Mercurio & Pierrothito [14:38, good] – 2 falls to 1 (6:54, 3:09, 4:35)
Canelo Casas, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado defeated Hombre Bala Jr., Magnus, Súper Halcón Jr. [11:27, ok]- 2 falls to 1 (5:09, 2:08, 4:10)
Atlantis, Mistico, Valiente defeated  Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [ok, ~8:07] – 2 falls to 1 (~2:45, 2:01, 3:21)

— Gran Alternativa Block B—

Rush don't care
Rush don’t care

Warrior Steel & Golden Magic win seeding battle royal [3:47]
Mascara Dorada & Pegasso defeated Terrible & Sansón [5:03]
Mephisto & Yago defeated Raijin & Pierroth [4:33]
Esfinge & Volador Jr. defeated La Mascara & Stigma [7:29]
Golden Magic & Rush defeated Warrior Steel & Mr. Niebla [4:59]
Mephisto & Yago defeated Mascara Dorada & Pegasso [3:08]
Esfinge & Volador Jr defeated Rush & Golden Magic [5:59; Rush DQed for mask pull after Golden Magic was eliminated]
Esfinge & Volador Jr. defeated Mephisto & Yago [9:05]

Thoughts

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